A conversation between Nathalie Fosse and Christina Polnyj-Pollman on their upcoming workshop.
I am so thrilled to be a part of a new course offering titled Free the Feet, February 4th and 5th, 2023 with my friend and colleague Nathalie Fosse. Nathalie graduated from the Florida School of Massage in 2002 and is the owner of Fosse Restorative Therapy in Gainesville, Florida. It has been so inspiring to follow her career and continue to learn from her. She is an amazing practitioner and truth be told, I have been encouraging her to share her insights with our community of therapists and the public for years. Finally, Voila! Free the Feet was born. (Nathalie is originally from France and I couldn’t resist).
I set up this brief Q&A with her to share how her evolving focus after 20 years in practice led to the development of Free the Feet.
Christina: In a nutshell, how would you describe the heart of your work?
Nathalie: I feel that no matter what the situation is, I listen to the client’s nervous system and try to identify the glitches and upregulate the nervous system to improve the motor and autonomic functions as well as restore emotional balance.
Christina: How did you arrive at this body of work?
Nathalie: Honestly, frustration with some of the limited results that I was able to achieve early on in my practice.
Christina: Tell us more about what you have been studying and integrating into you massage practice.
Nathalie: Because I was looking for longer lasting results, I was looking at ways to treat the entire person. Not just working from outside in but rather from the inside out.
Christina: Can you say more about that?
Nathalie: I realize one of the keys was to look at the brain and the central nervous system, because without the brain we don’t exist! Meaning the way we move, the way we breath, the way we learn, the way we heal, the way we think, etc. is all controlled by our brain.
Christina: How would you describe the workshop?
Nathalie: Because I have a foot fetish, I thought the feet would be a good pretext to talk about evolution and evolution is just a neural adaption. The anatomy of our feet is not random. The fact that we walk on two feet is not random. What I hope to impart is how we can use a basic understanding of neurology and the application of neurology to boost the results of our hands on work.
Christina: How do you like to explain neurology to your clients?
Nathalie: Everything we do is neurology. Also, neurology is plastic, it is in constant motion, who you are today is different from you are going to be tomorrow. For example, you had an argument with your partner, you left the house upset, while you’re sitting in your car driving to your therapy appointment you realize that neck pain that was gone months ago is back. You get back home you talk it out with your partner, you start having fun preparing dinner together and by the time you sit at the table you realize your neck pain is gone. This is neurological change. This is a form of neuroplasticity.
Christina: I think we can all relate to the concept of neuroplasticity. I know you will be offering several techniques and exercises throughout the weekend to illustrate our individual healing potential. I am delighted to share my experience with Chi Kung and Aromatherapy in this workshop. In my experience they are powerful tools that support the nervous system’s/brain’s ability to modify, change or adapt in response to our changing experience throughout life. Is there anything else you would like potential participants to know?
Nathalie: I am looking forward to offering a highly interactive workshop encouraging an exchange of knowledge and experiences. I hope the take home will be an expanded curiosity and creativity of how to better meet clients needs with a new set of tools.
Click here for more information and to register: https://essentialeducationinternational.com/category/classes/
